The Untold Adventure of Shippo
by JJR-Narrator
Summary: This is a tale about the young fox demon Shippo. It has sudden love, cute situations, and a final battle that will knock your socks off. If you are an Inuyasha fan, be prepared to see Shippo in a whole new light.
1. Chapter 1

The Untold Adventures of Shippo

Chapter One

_Mt. Omori, one of the less known mountains of Japan, can be found sitting in the middle of nowhere surrounded by nothing more than a few simple villages. Travelers rarely visit this area. They have no reason to come considering nothing important ever happens on the slopes of Mt. Omori. There is one story, though, about the mountain. A very well known story, which is told annually by the locals, that marks the place as one of the most influential sites in Japan. The story is about an epic battle long ago between two powerful fox demons that nearly ripped the mountain apart. The story always starts off small and at the very beginning, putting its focus on one little fox demon by the name of Shippo. _

The mountain looked smaller at the base, much smaller. Shippo had no idea that the trip was going to be this long. The angle he has used that mourning to survey the foggy slopes had lied to him, telling him that it would only take a day of hiking to reach the top. After traveling all mourning, Shippo learned that breaks in the path, ledges too small to skim, and a dozen or two dead ends would slow his journey down a bit. This did not lower the little fox demon's spirits. He marched happily onward the whole way, a sort of smiling gleam upon his face.

It was only yesterday that he had been given the opportunity to take on this important mission. It was just after yet another intense battle for yet another shared of the Shikon jewel. The group, consisting of Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango, Kirara, Miroku, and Shippo, had just found a little cabin at the base of Mt. Omori where they could rest themselves and prepare for the next battle. Soon after setting up camp, a dirty and battered old man wondered into their sights asking for help. They listened to his plea and found out that his village, just north of where they were, was under attack by a powerful bore demon. More than half of their village's bravest warriors had been killed by this terrible beast and all that remained in the village was the women and children. After the man was done, Miroku and Inuyasha said they would travel back with him and help his village destroy the demon. Kagome and Sango stayed behind with Shippo at the cabin to tend to some wounds Kirara had suffered during their last battle.

Shippo felt lower than dirt. It was his fault Kirara was in such a bad shape. He tried to help out in the last battle and only got in the way. Kirara swooped in to save him and was injured in the process. The others told him it was okay but he still felt terrible. After Inuyasha and Miroku left, Kagome found Shippo sitting by himself at the other end of the cabin. She sat next to him and asked him why he was so down. Shippo told her it was because he felt useless to the group. He was so small and weak and could do nothing really important. Kagome tried to convince him otherwise but it seemed nothing would work. Almost giving up, Kagome stared up at the mountain, thinking over what Shippo had said. Gazing up at the peak, a smile grew across her face in delight. She had a plan.

Standing quickly and putting on her best acting face she could muster, she pointed up at the peak of the mountain and shouted, "I sense a Shikon jewel coming from the top of that mountain!"

Shippo looked up at her in amazement and answered in disbelief, "Really?" He then stood up and walked over beside Kagome, helping her scan the peaceful looking slopes in front of them.

Kagome then began to squint, staring a bit harder as if she had lost the feeling. "Well, at least I think I felt something coming from that mountain. The feeling has left." She scratched her head in an attempt to act all puzzled. She looked gently down at the little fox demon below her and stated, "Well, the best thing to do now is to go check it out." Kagome then turned around and glanced at the cabin behind them. "But I really need to stay with Sango and help her treat Kirara's wounds." Kagome then looked back down at Shippo and said in her most worried voice, "We cannot just ignore a possible Shikon jewel shared. I wonder who could go up there and check the top of that mountain for me?" Shippo stood there for a while and rubbed his chin as he carefully thought over what Kagome had said. A smirk soon grew across his face as he finally fell into Kagome's little trap of kindness.

Coming back to the real story at hand, it was about noon time when Shippo was starting to grow slightly hungry. As he reached a fork in the road, Shippo decided to take a quick snake break before embarking on one of the two paths before him. He walked over to a small boulder sitting in between the two roads, and opened a little backpack of supplies Kagome gave him for his trip. Inside he found an apple, a tasty treat Kagome called a "_candy bar_", and a small bottle of water. Shippo placed these three items before him and rubbed his hands together with delightful hunger. As he reached for the candy bar first, the sound of Kagome's voice shot through his head like an alarm. She had scolded him before leaving on the trip to not eat the candy bar first. She wanted him to eat the entire apple first in order for her to make sure Shippo ate something healthy. Shippo sat there for a minute thinking this over. Kagome told him not to do something but she wasn't around right now. She wouldn't know if he ate the candy bar first or not. Besides, he could eat the whole apple afterwards. He was very hungry. Then he thought about how Kagome entrusted him with this big important mission to find the Shikon jewel shared. It would be mean to disregard what she asked of him. It took him a while but Shippo decided that he was a man now and he could make his own decisions. He picked up the candy bar and munched away.

After finishing the candy bar and all of his water, Shippo turned to the apple. He was now full. Terror struck him hard as he realized that Kagome would be very angry if he returned with an uneaten apple and an empty candy wrapper. His face turned blue with guilt as he thought of Kagome crying over the candy wrapper (he's over reacting, I know). He looked to the left and then to the right as he scanned the area for witnesses. He than chucked the whole apple behind him and whistled as he hopped off the boulder.

"Ouch!" sounded a small and tiny voice of a little girl. Shippo turned around quickly to spot a small fox demon girl hiding behind the boulder he was sitting on. She apparently saw him eating on the boulder and thought she could steal some of his food. She was covered in dirt from head to toe, and had scratches all over her face. Her cloths were rags and mats of white hair dangled like rope from the top of her head. She looked wild and very hungry as she turned to Shippo with an angry stare in her eye. She then turned to the apple he had thrown away and pounced on it like it was fleeing prey. She held it close to her chest as she ripped into it with her tiny demon teeth.

Shippo was thrown back. Who was this girl? She looked wild and dangerous. She also looked liked she was in need of some food and a bath. Shippo was about to walk up to her and ask her questions, but decided not to considering she looked like she would attack instead of talk. He quickly chose a path (the one away from her) and fled up it at amazing speed.

After putting at least two miles between them, Shippo, now exhausted, stopped and leaned over onto his knees to catch his breath. "I think I lost her?" Shippo said as he looked behind him. Laughing, he turned his head slowly forward to end up nose to nose with the wild girl. Shippo's smile stayed on his face for a few seconds as the shock of the girl being there sank in. He then grew tense as his eyes glazed, his face sweated, and his mouth dropped. He slowly backed up but then drew inward quickly as he readied for an attack.

There came no attack. Shippo peaked from under his defensive stance and fearfully looked back at the wild girl. The little fox demon girl just stood there crouched before him. She had her head tilted, looking at him thoughtfully, and would every few seconds lean it to the other side.

"Why are you scared?" Shippo almost jumped start into the air with fear. The little girl's sudden words cut through him and the silence like a sword. Though, they were gentle and sweet sounding, and, to Shippo's surprise, in proper Japanese. She didn't sound like a wild mountain demon girl, but more like a proper little angel.

Shippo calmed himself down as he looked for the words to answer her. He stuttered and quaked as he slowly blurted out, "N-n-no rea-son." The little girl rose and walked over to Shippo until they were only one foot away.

Shippo nearly lost it as she stood upright before him. Suddenly, her right arm shot forward. Shippo jumped back in fear. He stopped and then looked down at the open hand before him. "My name's Shiruku, what's yours?"


	2. Chapter 2

The Untold Adventures of Shippo

Chapter Two

Shippo sat lost in his own thoughts as he stared pointlessly into the fire. Night had come faster than he thought, stopping his journey dead in its tracks. He had found a nice flat little area behind another small boulder half way up the mountain to set up camp. Not long after finding this area, Shippo had a small fire going with three tiny fish roasting over the open flame. Shippo stood before the proudly caught meals with a hungry smile over his face. As he was just about to dig in, a loud growling noise came from the other side of the fire. The little fox demon girl, Shiruku, looked over the three fish with a quivering lip of hunger, her stomach being loud enough to wake the whole mountain. She had tried along side Shippo to catch some fish for dinner, but failed miserable. The little demon girl was so bad at it that she even messed up Shippo a few times while he was catching his own fish. This put Shippo way behind schedule.

Ever since he crossed paths with this strange and out of place mountain demon, Shippo has found himself more and more behind schedule. He had given the little girl his name and reason on the mountain like she wanted. She seemed to light up when he told her about the Shikon jewel. She vowed her service to Shippo on the spot (even when Shippo begged her not to) and has followed him the rest of the way so far. She is acting more like a little lost puppy than a mountain demon. At first, Shippo was a little afraid of the demon girl. Her whole presents and unusually nature kept Shippo in a state of confusion. This emotion was soon overruled by a feeling of annoyance. The little girl was insane. She did nothing but ask Shippo questions about unimportant things around them. Whenever Shippo would answer, she would go off on this endless rant about pointless things she knew. She even got in the way whenever Shippo tried to do something on his own, slowing him down so much that night came fast upon them.

Shiruku kneeled on the other end of the fire, staring pitifully down at the cooking fish. Shippo looked up at her with a dull expression of annoyance as he realized that she wanted his fish. He exhaled deeply, his own stomach hating him, as he called out her name. She looked up with weeping anime eyes, her index knuckle being slightly bitten to keep back the hunger. Her innocent expression knocked Shippo off a bit as he suddenly realized in the glimmering waves of light coming off the fire that Shiruku was cuter than he thought. His face turned bright red as he suddenly lost the words to say to her. He looked to his side and said very slightly, "Do you want some fish?" Before Shippo could say anything else, Shiruku had all three fish in her mouth, the sticks poking out of her lips as she chewed. She then gulped the fish down, spit the sticks into the fire, and embraced Shippo with a big huge. Shippo stood limply in her arms as he stared in disbelief at the burning sticks that once held his meal for the night. She let go of him, walked over to the other end of the fire, and fell instantly asleep, leaving Shippo to stare pointlessly at the burning sticks.

Shippo sat by himself next to the fire for a few hours, arms crossed and head hung low. He was now too hungry to sleep thanks to Shiruku. A series of thoughts crossed his mind that night. He thought about the trip so far and how it has been nothing but a disaster. He thought about Kagome and the Shikon jewel, wondering if she was beginning to worry about him being gone so long. He even thought about his father, who had died so long ago to Shippo now by the hands of the Thunder brothers. He wondered that if his father could see him now, would he be proud of his little fox demon son. What Shippo thought about most of all was about Shiruku. He had been with her most of the day and knew nothing about her. He knew a great deal of useless knowledge that she kept stored somewhere in that unusual head of hers, but nothing about her past, where she came from, or why she was on this mountain.

Shippo glanced quickly over to the other side of the fire where Shiruku slept. She looked peaceful in her sleep, too peaceful. She had no defense nature about her, no scared presents that would suggest she was always alert to her surroundings. She laid sprawled out across the ground with out a care in the world. Any predator could just sneak up and attack her. Shippo carefully crept up to her and looked her over carefully, searching for any clues to answer his questions. Why was she so calm and innocent in this wilderness? If this mountain is not her true home, where did she come from? As Shippo contemplated this, Shiruku's eyes snapped open to see Shippo staring at her. Needless to say, she did not like this one bit. Neither did Shippo after receiving a quick fist to the face that sent him flying into the fire. Shippo soon decided after putting himself out that he should just go to bed.

Shippo awoke the next mourning with Shiruku staring into his eyes. She had sort of a glare as she held her head at least an inch from Shippo's nose. Shippo looked back at her with renewed fear and said, "What are you doing?"

Shiruku squinted as she answered, "The same thing you were doing to me last night. I thought you would like to know how it felt." Shippo gulped as he slowly scooted out from under Shiruku. He lifted himself up off the ground and headed over to his backpack. As he was packing, he stopped only for a second, turned to his side, and apologized over his shoulder saying, "Sorry about that. I won't do it again."

Moving faster than Shippo could see, Shiruku jumped in front of him and stuck her face up into his own. "Why were you doing it? Do you get kicks looking at girls when they are asleep?" She stared through Shippo like he was the worst pervert in the world.

Shippo backed up slowly from her as he stuttered, "No, I was just wondering where you were from so I thought I would check you out." The last bit of words came out wrong. Shippo didn't know how else to say it at the time.

Shiruku growled, "Oh! You were just checking me out in my sleep! Well, I think that you need help because you are the biggest pervert in the world! I'm leaving" Shiruku turned around and toke off up the trail.

Shippo shoved the rest of his stuff into his backpack as he sprinted after her. He didn't know what he was doing. He spent all day yesterday wishing she would go away. Now he was chasing after her and apologizing for something she was over reacting about. He caught up to her as she was marching up the trail, ignoring him as much as possible as he began to blurt out apologies. "I am so sorry about that Shiruku. I didn't mean to say it like that. I was just wondering where you were from and I thought I could get some answers if I…" Shippo wasn't able to finish as Shiruku turned around and looked him square in the eyes.

"Why didn't you just ask? I would have been happy to tell you." A wave of guilt washed over Shippo as he realized he never tried that first. He looked pitifully down at the ground as he lost the words to say to Shiruku.

"Shippo!" Out of nowhere came two arms from behind Shippo that gripped him tightly in a hug. Shippo went insane as he waved his arms and legs widely in the air in an attempt to escape from this new attacker. "Ah, Shippo! I can't believe you are on this mountain too!" Shippo finally freed himself and fell to the ground gasping for air. Turning around to see who attacked him, Shippo sighed in disbelief as he saw Souten standing before him.

Souten was a Thunder demon girl he meet a long time ago. She was the sister of the two Thunder demons who killed Shippo's father. He held no grudge against her and neither did she to him for helping in the death of her brothers. She did, on the other hand, have a crush for Shippo. Shippo didn't really feel the same way to her. He was willing to be her friend but that was it.

Shippo picked himself off the ground and dusted the dirt off his cloths. He asked why Souten was on the mountain and she responded saying that she was just traveling across country with a friend of hers, Moshon. Moshon was this little turtle demon boy who Shippo finally spotted coming up the trail looking out of breath. He was most likely trying to catch up to Souten. Souten then asked Shippo what he was doing on the mountain. Shippo was a little hesitant to tell her but finally did when she looked about ready to cry if he didn't reveal his reasons. "I am looking for the Shikon jewel. Kagome said there might be a shard on this mountain so I went to go check it out for her."

Souten smiled as she responded, "Well, me and Moshon are not doing anything important. We can help you look." Moshon walked up looking very out of breath and very puzzled. He had just arrived to where everyone was gathered and hear only the last few words Souten said.

Shippo was just about to tell Souten that he didn't really need any help when Shiruku suddenly spoke up and said, "Of course you can help. Shippo needs all the help he can get." With that, Shiruku put her arm over Souten's shoulder as if they were the best of friends. They walked up the path chatting away leaving the other two demons behind. Shiruku turned only for a second, where Souten could not see her face, and stuck her tongue out at Shippo. She apparently was mad and wanted to get back at Shippo by inviting Souten along for the trip. Shippo looked over to Moshon. They both stared at each other for a while, waiting to see if one of them would say something. Nothing was said, so they both just sighed deeply as they followed helplessly behind the two laughing demon girls.


	3. Chapter 3

The Untold Adventures of Shippo

Chapter Three

The trip up the mountain became a bit smoother once Souten and Moshon joined the journey. Shiruku lead the way up front with Souten. The two demon girls would talk and laugh with each other up ahead while leaving the two demon boys trailing hopelessly behind them. Shippo and Moshon eventually found themselves talking to one another.

Shippo told his story first. He told Moshon about Kagome and the others, and how they were looking for shards of the Shikon jewel. He explained what he was doing on the mountain (since Souten failed to inform the poor little turtle demon on what they were doing), and how he needed to find the Shikon jewel shard as fast as possible. Shippo didn't want to be gone so long that Kagome would start to worry about him. He even told Moshon how he and Shiruku had only just met recently on the mountain.

Moshon told his story next. Shippo was very surprised by the young turtle demon's background. He was born in the far north of Japan and was raised by temple monks as far back as he could remember. He became a very young monk himself, and trained under the high priest of the temple in the secret arts known only by a choice few. With his demon aura as an aid, Moshon not only learned this secret style of martial arts quickly, but he also could use it in ways no normal human monk could. He soon out grew the temple and decided to travel across Japan in search of a purpose. While on his quest for purpose, Moshon stumbled into Souten one day by accident. She was running away from two very angry demons. Apparently, Souten had stolen some of the food that the two demons were saving and was caught red handed. Moshon defended the cute little thunder demon girl against the attacking demons, and has found himself protecting her ever since.

Shippo and Moshon felt a small connection as they talked. They were soon laughing with each other and bonding almost as well as Shiruku and Souten were up front. The two demon boys began to feel at the same time that it was kind of fun traveling up the mountain with the two demon girls. One odd thought did bother Shippo in the back of his mind as he glanced ahead. It seemed that ever since Shiruku had taken the lead the group did not encounter a single dead end. It was as if Shiruku knew the way.

By the end of the day, Shippo and the others arrived at the top of the mountain. Shippo was amazed to find out that the peak of the mountain was hollow. After traveling only an hour along a small canyon trail that Shiruku had chosen for them, the group found themselves entering into a small valley growing in the center of the peak. They stood atop a small hill as they gazed in awe at the gentle valley before them. Well, everyone except Shiruku. She stood just slightly away from the group with a look of unease on her face. Shippo got the feeling she needed someone to talk to, but decided to keep his distance considering she still looked mad about the night before. Shippo took his attention off Shiruku and scanned the valley for any possible locations that the Shikon jewel might be hiding. He noticed a small lake at the center of the valley and decided to start his search there.

The banks of the lake were covered in large rocks from one shore to the other. This made searching for something very hard. The stones were about the size of the little demon children themselves. The only member of the group that didn't have trouble lifting the rocks was Moshon. He would easily pick up any rock before him with one hand and feel the soft revealed dirt with the other. This sight made Shippo gulp as he took a mental note to never pick a fight with Moshon. As Moshon and Souten searched endlessly through the rocks, Shippo noticed that Shiruku had slipped away from the group. He left without telling the others and went to go see where she was.

It did not take Shippo long to find out that Shiruku had slipped just a few yards away under a tiny cliff over the waters edge. She sat looking deeply at the dark water, lost in her own thoughts. Shippo crept up behind her slowly and stood just close enough to cast a reflection in the shallow water before her. She slowly turned to look at his reflection for only a moment, and then turned her gaze gently across to the other side of the lake, ignoring that he was behind her. Shippo knew that something was troubling her and instantly assumed that it was what he did to her last night.

"I'm sorry Shiruku," Shippo said as he sat down beside her. Shiruku snapped out of her sorrowful trance and turned to Shippo.

"Sorry for what?" she responded. Shippo was a bit thrown off. He looked back at her with bright red checks as he felt a wave of confusion come over him.

"Sorry for what I did last night." Shippo finally answered. Shiruku smiled slightly and turned her view back towards the lake.

"It's okay. I over reacted, so it's my fault really." Shiruku said as she picked up a stone and threw into the water. The splash of the stone made a loud echo which was soon followed by an awkward silence. Shippo didn't understand. After all that fighting they did that mourning; she was apologizing to him like it was no big thing. Something else was bothering her to the point of not caring anymore about their argument.

"Something seems to be troubling you Shiruku. Is something the matter?" Shiruku sighed with a laugh and turned to Shippo, staring straight into his eyes. Shippo blushed and panicked inside as he realized once again just how beautiful Shiruku really looked.

"Tell me Shippo, do you believe in wishes?" Shippo thought for a moment and did not know what to say. Shiruku smiled deeply and went on saying, "I believe in wishes. I believe that they can come true."

Shippo had no idea why Shiruku was talking about wishes all of a sudden. This made him so confused that he blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Well, I don't believe in wishes." Again, he said something that came out the wrong way, and he wished heavily inside that he never opened his mouth.

Shiruku frowned and questioned, "Then what hope do you have in your life? What is the purpose of living if you don't want something worth trying for?"

Shippo stood and walked a ways away from her trying to think of what to say. "Don't get me wrong, I have dreams and hopes and stuff."

"What is your dream in life?" Shiruku quickly asked as she stood up towards him. Shippo paused for a moment and looked from side to side as he thought about what main dream he had in life.

"Well…um…I dream about being as strong as Inuyasha." Shippo answered back with a small smile of embarrassment across his face. Shippo always wanted to be as strong as Inuyasha. To him, Inuyasha was this great hero that was fearless in the presence of danger. Shippo would never tell this to Inuyasha knowing that the half-demon would never let him live it down. He always picks on Shippo for stuff like that.

"Well," Shiruku stated. "Why do you dream that? What makes you want to be as strong as Inuyasha?"

Shippo thought for a moment and slowly started to realize what she was trying to make him say. He was thinking the answers just a moment ago. "I dream to one day be as strong as Inuyasha because I wish inside to be as brave and heroic as he is to me." The maturity of the answer surprised Shippo himself. Shiruku smiled and walked back towards Souten and Moshon.

Shippo thought a few seconds on what Shiruku had revealed to him. When he finally collected himself, the little fox demon shouted, "Shiruku!" She turned to him with a smile. She no longer reminded Shippo of a wild mountain demon. "When I said I was sorry, I was really apologizing for not treating you with more respect. I should have just asked you about yourself. Instead, I tried to find out who you were on my own. I'm really sorry about."

Shiruku smiled and responded, "Again, that's alright." She tilted her head to the side and continued, "And if you really want to start to know me better you should call me by my nickname, Shiru." With that, Shiru stuck her tongue out at Shippo and took off towards the others. Shippo stood there for a few seconds and thought her name over. Shiru-chan, it had a cute feeling behind it.

"AAHHH! Someone help!" Shiruku screamed from somewhere atop the cliff. Shippo snapped in response as he rushed to her aid. As he climbed into view of Shiruku, Shippo saw two large samurais grabbing Shiruku by the arms as they dragged her towards the woods. The little fox demon didn't even have time to think it over, or to even be scared, as he found himself attacking in Shiruku's defense.

Shippo jumped into the air and kicked the two samurais in the head, releasing their hold on Shiruku, and giving Shippo a chance to use his body as a shield between the two warriors and Shiru-chan. The samurais stared down at Shippo in rage as they each drew their swords in response. Shippo held his ground as the two samurai took low, awkward swings at the dodging fox demon below them. Eventually, one of the samurais made contact with the side of his sword, and sent Shippo flying through the air in pain. The other one moved like lighting as he swooped Shiruku up in his arms and took off into the woods. Shiruku yelled helplessly for Shippo as her voice grew faint in the distant woods.

The samurai that had knocked Shippo aside sheathed his sword and glanced Shippo over with a look of wonder. Shippo lifted himself onto his hands and knees and stared intensely into the samurai's eyes. The eyes Shippo stared into burned bright red like two hot coals in a fire. This samurai was a demon in disguise! The samurai demon then took off in the same direction as the other one, and was gone in the blind of an eye.

Shippo tried to lift himself onto his feet, but fell backwards onto his butt as he clutched his bloody forehead in pain. He than began to cry out Shiruku name hopelessly. A stream of blood stained tears poured down his face as he repeated over and over again, "Shiru-chan! Shiru-chan! SHIRUKU!"


	4. Chapter 4

The Untold Adventures of Shippo

Chapter Four

Once Shippo had his head bandaged by Souten and Moshon, the brave little fox demon found himself darting through the woods with the other two demons trying desperately to catch up to him. All he could do was search in vain in the general direction that the two samurais had fled. He gritted his teeth impatiently as he jumped from branch to branch in a furious rage. Shippo didn't know how he was going to destroy those samurais. He just had one goal in mind and that was to save Shiruku at all costs.

Moshon and Souten called out behind him to slow down and to take it easy. Shippo was bound to get himself killed if he were to keep this up. When the two finally caught up to Shippo, the little fox demon had stopped his frantic searching and was standing frozen at the edge of some sudden forest line that ran beside a small dirt road. The two came up beside him and looked to see where he was staring. They were all very surprised to see a majestic castle standing before them upon a small hill. The group had not seen the castle when arriving to the valley because it was very well hidden by a crack in the side of the mountain. Souten and Moshon stood speechless as they gazed in wonder over the beautiful palace before them. Shippo too was in awe for only a moment, but soon snapped out of it as he began to march up the dirt road to the castle.

"Shippo wait!" Souten shouted out as she noticed him taking off again. She sprinted to Shippo's side with Moshon following close behind her. "Getting yourself killed will not save Shiruku. We need to take this slow if we want to keep us all out of danger."

"Shiru-chan is already in danger." Shippo whispered loudly, ignoring Souten's advice. He quickened his pace and Souten followed close behind him.

"You're not thinking this through Shippo. Now if you would just stop and listen to what I have to say…" Shippo suddenly did stop and turned to Souten.

Their noses came only inches apart as Shippo began to snap back at Souten. "Who cares what you have to say! Shiru-chan is in trouble and we are the only ones who can save her! Ever second we stand here thinking, those two demons could be torturing her!" Shippo would have shouted more, but Moshon jumped in between him and Souten. The look on Moshon's face gave Shippo the hint to stop yelling at Souten.

Souten had some tears in her eyes as she answered Shippo, "What, you don't think I feel the same way. I may not know Shiruku that well since we only met today, but she is my friend. I would do anything to help her. Just because you known her a little bit longer does not give you the right to yell at me like that." Souten's word struck Shippo through the heart like an arrow. She was right. Why was Shippo acting this way? He had only just meat Shiruku the other day. I guess the reason Shippo was getting so emotional was because he was there when she was kidnapped by the samurai demons, but that did not give him the right to act like he was Shiruku's only friend.

The sun was setting low in the distance causing a low shadow to be cast across the valley. The wind picked up and blew with a gentle whirl through the awkward silence between Shippo and his two demon friends. Shippo lifted his head slowly from his depressed gaze at the ground to say sorry to the others but was cut off by a sudden jerk from Moshon. The little turtle demon had changed his stance from facing Shippo to holding an attacking position to the right of them. Shippo turned his head to see that the two Samurais that had kidnapped Shiru-chan earlier that day were standing only a few feet before them. Shippo jerked also in response and caused a blue fire ball to be created in the palm of his hand. Souten also jumped back and lifted her hands as if she were ready to attack. The two samurais did not draw their weapons but instead took two steps forward and bowed themselves before the three little demons.

Moshon and Shippo traded uneasy glances as they stood unchanged before the two bowed demons. Shippo breathed in hard and gathered the courage to speak to the two warriors. "What have you done with Shiruku?"

One of the samurai lifted his head to answer. Shippo recognized the samurai as the one who hit him in the head with his sword. The samurai answered as if he were talking to a superior Lord. "Princess Shiruku wishes for your presence."

It toke the group a second to understand what the samurai was saying before they lowered their arms in confusion. "Princess?"


End file.
